Sig Christenson is a veteran military reporter who has made nine trips to the war zone. He writes regularly for Hearst about service members, veterans and heroes, among other topics. He is also the co-founder and former president of Military Reporters and Editors, founded in 2002.

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps

07/17/2014

SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio woman who is the nation's oldest female veteran wanted one last trip to Washington, D.C., and thanks to a pair of veterans groups and an Austin firm, she's going to get her wish.

Lucy Coffey, 108, will fly out of San Antonio on a chartered plane next week and go the capital. There, she'll visit the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery and other monuments, and may even see the president or vice president while in town.

“Everybody's just really excited to be able to honor her in this way. She's a pioneer. Her service has really opened doors for future generations of women,” said Bexar County veterans service officer Queta Marquez, adding that Coffey is serving her country even as a centenarian. “By virtue of her taking this trip, she's actually highlighting military service, and military service for women.”

07/09/2014

SAN ANTONIO — When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Lucy Coffey had left the farm in Martinsville, Indiana, spent time in Chicago and finally settled in Dallas, where she worked at an A&P supermarket.

After quitting the A&P in 1943, she joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, a call to service that would take her to Japan before she returned and settled in San Antonio.

Now, at 108, the nation's oldest woman veteran has one more trip to make, this time an Honor Flight, an all-expense-paid salute to World War II veterans. The destination: Washington, D.C.

“I'd like to go to see things that are there that were not there before,” Coffey said